1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a collaborative online legal workflow tool and more particularly, to a method and system for role-based access control to a collaborative online legal workflow tool.
2. Background Art
A variety of legal workflow tools are currently available in the marketplace which allow users to manage an intellectual property portfolio. Typical information managed by these systems include filing and prosecution information for patent and trademark applications filed around the world. Many of these systems are based upon well known client-server architecture and provide limited ability for internal users to collaborate with external service providers without complex hardware and networking architecture.
Recently, developers have modified existing client-server systems to incorporate online collaborative tools, such as web access plugins, to allow a variety of users in various locations to access common information stored in the tool. One of the challenges associated with this collaborative exchange of information is the level of access and control users have to the information stored in the tool.
In today's legal arena, corporations, institutions and firm clients typically rely on multiple distributed firms and agencies to assist with or independently conduct their legal workflow. It is not uncommon for a single corporation to have several private law firms handling hundreds of co-pending legal matters ranging from basic transactional work to larger projects such as litigation, negotiation, etc. In the intellectual property area, for example, a corporation often relies on outside counsel to independently manage all searches and applications for trademarks, patents etc.
For example, a corporate attorney may provide access to one or more external service providers to records stored in the corporate workflow tool for which the external service provider is responsible for managing on a day to day basis. Current portfolio management solutions have security tools which restrict the external service provider's access only to records assigned to the external service provider. The external service provider is unable to access information entered by other service providers which may be related to the matters handled by that individual. This inability to collaborate with other service providers limits the level of service provided to the client and may create additional support burdens for both the corporation and the service provider.
A variety of companies currently offer software applications for managing or otherwise automating workflow in both the legal and non-legal arenas. One example is Aspen Grove's ipWorkflow. Aspen Grove is located at 101 Federal Street, Suite 1900, Boston, Mass. 02110 (www.aspengrove.net). Another example is offered by Vinsoft Solutions located at 1155 West Chestnut Street, Suite 2-C, Union, N.J. 07083 (www.vinsoftsolutions.com). Another example is offered by FoundationIP located at 830 TCF Tower, 121 South 8th Street, Minneapolis, Minn. 55402 (www.foundationip.com). Another example is Inproma offered by Computer Patent Annuities North America LLC located at 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 400, Alexandria, Va. 22314 (www.cpajersey.com). Another example is offered by iManage located at 950 Tower Lane, Suite 500, Foster City, Calif. 94404 (www.imanage.com).
Embodiments and features of the present invention include an alternative to or valuable improvement upon conventional legal workflow applications. Without limiting the scope or applicability of the present invention, one goal of the present invention is to provide a collaborative online legal workflow tool which overcomes the limitations described above. It would also be advantageous to provide a method and system for role-based access control to information in the collaborative online legal workflow tool which provides central administration of legal workflow conducted by a plurality of distributed workflow participants.